


Ready for What’s Next

by Chick_With_Horns



Series: Izzy or Isn't She? [1]
Category: U2 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Zoo TV Tour (U2)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 19:31:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18146480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chick_With_Horns/pseuds/Chick_With_Horns
Summary: A new employee joins U2's Zoo TV tour crew.





	Ready for What’s Next

**Author's Note:**

> Set during Zoo TV; intro to a (probable) series. 
> 
> My first fic! Huge thanks to iblamethisonSherlock for being a great friend and amazing beta; without her encouragement, help, and advice, this story would never have made it this far.

**Excerpt from Isabel Palmer’s tour diary - Miami, March 2, 1992**

So, here I am. Starting a new job, far away from theater-- and maybe not so far, at the same time. It’s still kind of unbelievable to me that I went from a minor theater job to being part of the tour crew for a rock band, but it’s my life now, it’s happening.

I wouldn’t even have known about this job if it wasn’t for Emma getting in touch to tell me there was an opening in Wardrobe. (Thanks, Emma!) _Apply for the job,_ she said, _it’ll be fun. We’ll be able to hang out again. And come on, it’s a major rock tour, when will you get this chance again?_ So I applied, and I actually got it (wow!) and here I am. And yeah, it is fun. Exhausting, chaotic, but fun.

Speaking of exhausting, there was a show last night. It was huge and flashy and amazing. The first show of the tour was a few days ago, plus there were rehearsals before that… last night was the first in a really big city, and it’ll only get bigger and crazier from here. We’re on the road now, on the way to wherever we are tomorrow night, so I have a bit of time to myself. So, I’m finally taking some time (before I grab a nap) to write down some thoughts about my experiences so far. So how should I start? How about with the band?

First of all, Larry isn’t as grumpy as everybody imagines. He talks - and smiles - a lot more offstage, and he tends to be snarky in a way I can really appreciate.

Edge is almost intimidating in his brilliance. He’s quiet and thoughtful; he speaks most eloquently through his guitar. He’s a sweetheart.

Bono – well, of course I want him, doesn’t every woman want him? He’s pure sex. Aside from that, though, he’s unbelievably funny and sweet and kind.

And Adam… well. Handsome and charming, and oh my god, that accent! More talented than he thinks. I’m trying hard not to get crazy ideas about him… I mean, he’s a rock star. He’s had life experiences that I can only dream about. He has access to actresses and models. His life is completely unlike mine. He’s a sweet guy, and he’s cute as hell, but there’s just no way, you know?

Anyway. It doesn’t matter. I’m pretty happy. Yeah, it’s entry level, but it’s a great job. It’s a huge, big-name tour, I get to travel a lot, and I get to make small talk with four attractive musicians. What have I got to complain about?

 

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

 

It was a warm Miami night. In the streets surrounding the stadium, an exhausted post-concert crowd scattered in all directions, trailing excited conversations and snatches of songs. Inside, a space more used to sports was slowly transforming back to its usual configuration as dozens of workers swarmed over scaffolding, disassembled video screens, and hauled down carefully suspended cars. Backstage, the four band members congratulated one another, reached for drinks and discussed the details of the performance as various crew members passed by, occupied with post-show tasks.

“Great show, guys!”

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Bono took off his silver cowboy hat as he headed for the dressing rooms and plopped it on the head of the wardrobe assistant who stood waiting, collecting bits of sweaty clothing as the band passed by.

“Dude, love the new outfit, but eww. This is super sweaty.” The young woman removed the hat and ran a hand through her short blonde hair, making a face of mock disgust.

“Sorry,” Bono replied cheerfully. “You’re the best, Emma.”

The concert was over and the pre-show storm of backstage activity had subsided, but there was still much to be done. The tech crew would be breaking down the massive set for some time, packing it all up to transport to the venue two stops ahead. Crew members still hurried here and there, occupied with a dozen different tasks, but the mood was much more relaxed.

In the wardrobe room, trunks stood open, ready for packing. Another assistant was removing clothes from racks and hanging them in the trunks, pausing only long enough to fish in a pocket for an elastic and pull her slightly-messy dark hair back into a ponytail. Emma walked in and dropped her load of clothes into a wheeled bin, tossing the hat onto a nearby table. She nodded to the other woman.

“Hey, Izzy. Let me help you with that, then we can collect the rest of the laundry, and we’ll be ready to finish packing up tomorrow.”

“Okay, great.” Izzy pushed the bin into the hall where the laundry service would collect it later.

“See, I told you this job would be glamorous.” Emma grinned at her friend as they headed for the dressing rooms a few minutes later.

Izzy smiled back. “And it is. It’s extremely glamorous laundry.”

The dressing rooms were all scattered in the same area, just a grouping of the anonymous multipurpose rooms large venues always seemed to have, with names taped on the doors. Emma waved a hand in their general direction. “How about you get Larry and Adam, I’ll get Bono and Edge, and that’ll be it.”

“Will do.”

Larry’s dressing room door stood open. Izzy peeked in and asked, “Hey, any more laundry?”

“Nothing else tonight, thanks.”

Adam’s door was closed; she could hear him inside, walking around and moving things. When she knocked he opened the door – shirtless – and grinned at her. “Hey, hi. You’re the new wardrobe person, right?”

“Yeah.” She smiled back, a little nervously, thinking, _Oh my god, look at him!_ “Uh, hi! I’m Isabel. But, um, call me Izzy if you want, most people do.” _Be cool,_ she told herself, _just be cool._ “Any more laundry?”

“Just a bit.” He handed her a couple of shirts. They felt damp and silky. “It’s nice to see a new face on the crew. How are you liking it?”

“It’s great. A little crazy, but a lot of fun.”

“Oddly enough, that also describes the band fairly accurately.” Adam smiled charmingly and Izzy laughed.

Emma returned just in time to catch the end of this exchange, and Adam nodded hello. “Emma will confirm that, won’t you?”

“Confirm what?”

“That the band is a little crazy but a lot of fun.”

“I can definitely confirm that,” Emma replied. “You can find out for yourself later, a bunch of us are planning to go out when we’re all done here. Just a casual thing to welcome you onto the crew.” She grinned and gave Izzy a friendly punch on the arm.

“Oh yeah? Cool, that’s really nice,” Izzy said. “Do I need to change?”

Emma looked over her friend’s t-shirt and cargoes. “Nah, you’re fine. We’re just going to get together and have some food and hang out. C’mon, let’s finish up.” She gave a little wave over her shoulder as they headed back to the wardrobe room. “See you later, Adam.”

Izzy smiled and nodded goodbye to Adam, then whispered excitedly to Emma as soon as they were alone.

“Oh my god, he is gorgeous!”

“He really is. He’ll be there tonight, you’ll be able to talk more.”

“So who all is going?” Izzy asked. “You know how I feel about big parties where I don’t know anybody.” She pulled the elastic out of her hair and ran her hands quickly through it, pushing back sweaty strands.

“Ah, it’ll be fine,” Emma said. “It’ll probably be just the band, and us, and some others from the crew. People just want to, y’know, meet you and say hi. Nothing major.” She smiled, a little mysteriously. “Might be a little craziness.”

“Craziness, huh? Anything I should worry about?”

“Nah. Hey, have I ever steered you wrong?”

Izzy grinned. “Not so far. There’s time yet.”

A short time later they joined a small group that had already gathered in the parking lot. Izzy knew a few people: all four band members (whose presence made her simultaneously excited and nervous) and Janice, the wardrobe supervisor. Others were just somewhat-familiar faces whose names she didn’t know yet. A few cars were waiting to take them all wherever they were going; nobody seemed to want to say where exactly that was. As the group broke apart and loaded up, everyone seemed to be happily anticipating something, but there was no hint as to what. It was all very mysterious.

As they walked toward the closest car, Emma pulled a length of dark red cloth out of her pocket. “After you,” she said, and gestured towards the open door. Izzy slid in; Bono was already inside, grinning at them. Edge and a couple of other crew members followed.

“Okay,” Emma explained, holding out the cloth, “This is part of the official Welcoming The New Person ritual...”

“There’s an official ritual?” Izzy broke in. Her expression said she didn’t completely believe there was.

“Shh. There is. You have to be blindfolded, because where we’re going is a surprise.”

“This isn’t going to be something weird, is it?”

Emma laughed. “It’ll be fine! Trust me. It’s all in fun.”

Bono added, “We’re not going to abandon you on the highway or anything. We aren’t allowed to do that anymore.”

Edge’s expression was one of tolerant amusement. “Just ignore him. We all try to.”

Emma tied the blindfold securely on as the car pulled out of the lot. It felt strange and disorienting to be moving without being able to see; the first time they turned a corner, Izzy wobbled a bit, and Bono and Emma each grabbed an arm to steady her. She hoped someone would say something about where they were going, but what conversation she could hear was mostly speculation about the upcoming venues and gossip about other crew members.

At one point she heard Bono’s voice, low and full of humor: “You know, it’s been awhile since I last sat next to a blindfolded woman.”

Izzy laughed and tried not to think about what he was probably implying. She didn’t quite succeed.

Without seeing buildings or landmarks, it was hard to estimate how long they’d been driving, but it didn’t seem like very long before the car stopped. She heard the car doors opening and felt a breeze, then there were sounds of movement as the others got out. A hand touched her arm and someone helped her out. The ground felt hard under her sneakers, like cement. She was led forward, and the hard surface became soft, like sand.

“I hear waves,” Izzy said. “Are we at the beach?”

“Maaaaaaybe...” Emma answered.

Suddenly Izzy felt herself being lifted and carried. She gave a little yelp of surprise and held tight to strong shoulders. A voice spoke near her ear.

“We are indeed at the beach.”

 _Bono,_ she thought. _Holy shit, Bono is carrying me!_

“Cool,” she said, “but I notice you aren’t putting me down. What are we doing?” The sounds of waves had grown steadily louder. She heard splashing.

“Gonna go down to the ocean and toss you in.”

“Hey, what??”

Someone pulled off the blindfold, and she had a brief glimpse of Bono’s smiling face before the ocean came rushing up to meet her. A moment later, she was getting back on her feet and spitting out seawater, and everyone was cheering. Some of the group were sitting on the beach, others were in the water. Larry and Edge were standing on the beach talking to Janice. Adam was nearby, knee deep in the water, grinning at her, the blindfold in one hand.

Emma waded over and gave Izzy a hug. “Welcome to the tour crew!”

“Thank you,” Izzy replied. A slow grin spread over her face, and she started vigorously splashing everyone within reach, starting with Bono and Emma.

It took less than a minute for the others to join in, everyone laughing and yelling and splashing each other, running around like a bunch of overgrown kids. It took several tries for the crew member who started yelling about food some time later to make himself heard over the noise. The whole group finally came splashing out, breathless and soaked, to find that a fire was now burning in the fire pit and coolers were being retrieved from one of the cars. One was full of beer and soda; the other was packed with fried chicken, assorted fruit, and cookies.

The two men who had unloaded the coolers came over to introduce themselves. One was stocky and sandy-haired, the other was taller with a black ponytail.

“Izzy, right? How’s it going?” The shorter one said. “I’m Jeff, I work in Publicity with this guy.”

The ponytailed man extended a hand. “Good to meet you. I’m Rob. We were put in charge of calling ahead to get the food.”

“It looks great! You guys really did some serious planning,” Izzy said, as she wrung water out of her hair. “I’m impressed. Thanks, everybody!”

Bono pulled her into a hug. “You might not feel the same after you’ve had to deal with us for a few months.”

“Or with you, anyway,” Larry added, smirking.

Thankfully, another of the cars had a trunk full of beach towels, stashed in advance. Almost everyone grabbed one and settled around the fire. Conversation quieted as the food was passed around. Emma sank down onto the sand next to Izzy and offered her a beer. Adam joined them a few minutes later; the blindfold was tied loosely around his neck.

“Good evening, ladies,” he said, grinning. “Fine night to be chucked in the water.” Izzy and Emma laughed.

“So, are you ready for the madness to come?” Emma asked, turning to her friend.

Izzy looked around at the others, grouped around the fire or stretched out on the sand, and considered. “I think I am,” she answered. After a pause, she smiled shyly at Adam and added, “Do I get to keep the blindfold?”

  
  



End file.
